In today’s evolving B2B landscape where attention is scarce, marketing must always be multi-channel.

Going outbound is essential, and using ABM is the smartest way to do it. What does that mean? It means using personalized and relevant messages across multiple channels. We write about the power of personalization and relevance frequently, which is why we’re going to dedicate this post to the power of multi-channel outreach.

No matter which channel you’re using, each has its own strengths and weaknesses. However, something akin to magic happens when you combine them into a coordinated program. A mix of channels will always out-perform any single channel.

“Avoid over-dependence on a single technique. Prospectors should be experts in two to four complementary techniques and know the pros and cons of each.”– Aaron Ross & Jason Lemkin From Impossible To Inevitable

The Big Three Channels

There are many ways to reach out to target contacts. But the outbound ABM discipline is built on the big three channels:

Your best ABM plays will largely be built on touches across these three channels.

“Voicemail and email are equally important. And together, they’re twice as effective as all other touches combined.”
– Trish Bertuzzi The Sales Development Playbook

Email, phone, and social media are the big three channels, but these are table stakes. All reps must be versed in sending real, human emails, eager to pick up the phones, and adept at jumping on social media. There are many more ways to reach out. Think about using any or all of these formats and channels to reach your prospects:

Text messages

Slack

One-to-one video

Direct mail

SlideShare

Comments on blogs

AngelList

Fax

Door-to-door

Quora

Etc.

The other powerful benefit of a multi-channel approach is the channels can build off of each other.

“Combine touches within seconds of each other – Leaving a voicemail within seconds of your email will increase the likelihood of your prospect opening and responding to your email.”
– Craig Rosenberg, TOPO

One tactic is to help you warm up your leads using multi-channel outreach with sales enablement through marketing. Start with obtaining your prospect’s email address. Then run targeted demand gen ads against those prospects. They’ll see an ad for your company, and even if they don’t click on it, when your email lands in their inbox, they’ll subconsciously think “I know this company, I’ve seen them before.” As Dr. Robert Cialdini explains, “familiarity breed trust.” Now, they’re more likely to respond to your email or call.

Check out this video about the power of the subconscious in advertising.

To take it to the next level, the ads that you run against those companies can even be created specifically with your target audience in mind. For example, you can use a customer quote or testimonial of a successful company. Show how they achieved a very specific result you know the target company is seeking.

Companies like RollWorks are making this even easier with integrations and easy targeting. Now, you can integrate your Salesforce instance with your RollWorks instance and filter your lists by account list, funnel state, etc., then launch an ad campaign against that defined segment.

Which channel does your prospect prefer?

Choose your channels wisely. Respect the prospect and the channel. I love the advice of Gary Vaynerchuck: “If content is king, then context is God.” Neglecting to first take context into consideration can have the opposite effect, relegating you to the blacklist. Sometimes for some prospects, personal channels, like Facebook or Snapchat aren’t appropriate.

What’s the best channel for reaching out to a prospect? The channel they like best. Ask yourself, “where are my prospects hanging out most?”

The “perfect” prospecting email sent to someone who gets a thousand emails a day may be less effective than a ‘good enough’ direct message sent to someone who likes to communicate over Twitter. Find out – but remember: It’s all about ‘you’, not ‘me’.

No matter which channel you use to engage with prospects, messages must all be crafted around the recipient and their needs. This sounds almost too obvious to mention but it’s amazing how many emails or voicemails we all receive that start with the sender’s company and their needs. If your messages don’t answer the ‘Why should I care?’ question – and do it first, they will fail.

Brandon Redlinger is the Director of Growth at Engagio, the Account Based Marketing and Sales platform that enables teams to measure account engagement and orchestrate human connections at scale. He is passionate about the intersection between tech and psychology, especially as it applies to growing businesses. You can follow him on twitter @brandon_lee_09 or connect with him on LinkedIn.